


darling, so it goes

by warptimeandspace



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Ford Centric, Phone calls home, Stand Alone, i assumed ford was her first name? like a nickname or something for something old fashioned, not that it matters you've never seen this OC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-03 00:56:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10956339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warptimeandspace/pseuds/warptimeandspace
Summary: “I’ve been up for three hours and I’ve had five cups of coffee,” Ford says. “Sleep is a lie.”or: ford calls her girlfriend





	darling, so it goes

Ford presses her phone to her head with her shoulder, her hands covered in glitter and mural paint. Soon she will need to open a door but that is a problem for later. 

“Good mornin’,” She says into the phone. “How’d you sleep?” 

Mara groans, too many miles away to count. 

(That’s a lie. It’s 1,956 miles. Twenty-nine hours by car, six by plane. Ford counted.)

“Fine.” Mara murmurs. “Or at least fine enough, you?” 

“I’ve been up for three hours and I’ve had five cups of coffee,” Ford says. “Sleep is a lie.” 

Mara laughs a sleepy little giggle. There’s a rustling noise in the background and Ford knows she’s still in bed. She wonders if Mara still uses the Little Mermaid comforter she found on clearance at Hot Topic when they were fifteen. 

(“It’s ironic!” Mara said loudly as Ford laughed at her. “And you are lying if you don’t think this fits my aesthetic!”) 

“How are you over there?” Mara asks. “You’re not bored, are you?” 

“I’m too busy to be bored,” Ford says honestly. “I’m working with Samwell’s theatre department. We’re doing Hairspray first but we’re talking about doing Heathers in the spring. My classes are good too. I’m in a swimming class because Samwell wants to promote healthy living and therefore I have to take an  _ ungodly _ amount of PE credits.” 

“I like Heathers,” Mara says. “Do you think after your swimming class you’ll be ready to take me on in the pool?” Ford can almost hear her smirking. 

“Obviously.” She says, stopping short in front of the door of her dorm’s basement kitchen. The door is closed. She has glitter and paint on her hands. “With the knowledge from my one swim class, I will beat my Pre-Olympic Swimmer Girlfriend at her own game. Bring it on, give me the medals now.” 

(They used to swim together all the time and Ford wasn’t bad, really, but Mara was extraordinary. She would do hundreds while Ford did twenty-fives. They used to race with silly little bets as trophies and a trillion conditions. Mara wasn’t allowed to use her right arm this time or Ford got a fifteen-second head start, Mara usually won anyways. Ford didn’t mind. They had different strengths.)  

“You can do it,” Mara says. “I believe in you.” 

She sounds so sure that Ford’s heart hurts, just a little. 

“Well,” Ford says, after taking a very large breath. “Have you met anybody remarkable yet?” She kicks at the door to try and get somebody to open it. There are people on the other side. They can obviously hear her kicking. Eventually, they’ll have to let her in.

 

“I met my teammates,” Mara says. “They’re alright. It’s nice to meet them, but they’re also going to be my competition, so it’s a little weird. I’m only in a couple of relays, and we won’t decide those for a couple of months so right now it’s a lot of training that’s focused on all of us individually, but in the same room.” 

“Are you going to have any meets soon?” Ford asks, kicking the door harder. “I’ll try to make it to one, if not I’m sure they’ll have it on TV.” 

“There are nationals in February, they’ll be in New York,” Mara says, like that’s not a forever away. “That’s not far from Samwell.” 

It really is, but it’s closer than Denver, so it’s something. Ford will take it.  

“I’ll be home for the holidays before then,” Ford says. “Do you think you’ll have a break?” 

“I imagine so.” Mara hums. It’s interesting, Ford thinks, that her her speech is always so casual when Mara is anything but. Mara has always been about action. She’s a force that Ford doesn’t think could ever be stopped by external means. A tsunami in a small body. “We’ll carve out time.” 

Ford gives the door one final kick before leaning against the wall. She needs a break and the current kitchen occupants are obviously not sympathetic to her plight. “I miss you.” She says honestly. “That’s sort of lame.” 

 

Mara sighs on the other side of the line and Ford hears her curl farther into her blankets. 

“Someday.” She says. “We are going to be the  _ Power Couple of the Universe _ .” 

“Oh really?” Ford interrupts. “Isn’t the universe a bit of a stretch?” 

“No, of course not.” Mara dismisses quickly. “The universe is just the right size. Now listen, we are going to be universe power couple. You are going to manage giant, fantastic Broadway shows. Like, If/Then--” 

“That’s my favorite.” Ford says softly. 

“I know, and you would do that so well, it would go off perfectly. It would be better than the original. You are going to manage If/Then and In the Heights and Fun Home and they’re going to be the best things Broadway has ever seen!” 

“You,” Ford says, catching on. “You are going to go to Tokyo and then to Los Angeles and then to  _ wherever _ and you’re going to win a billion medals.” 

“That’s a little excessive.” Mara laughs. 

“Like  _ Power Couple of the Universe _ isn’t?” Ford counters. “You’re going to get a trillion medals just for saying that. You’re going to get so many golds that whenever anybody looks at a pool they won’t ever think of Michael Phelps. They’ll only think of you.” 

“What about Ledecky?” Mara asks. 

“She can have a billion medals,” Ford says. “So they’ll think of you first, then her, and then Phelps like, half an hour later like  _ Oh! I knew I was forgetting something _ .” 

“We’re going to go so many red carpets,” Mara says. “Because you’ll have Tony’s and movie deals and I’ll have commercials about juice.” 

“Why do we need a red carpet event for your juice commercial?” Ford asks. 

“Because it’s a cinematic masterpiece, excuse you.” Mara says seriously. She maintains her snooty silence for almost three seconds before descending into giggles. Ford follows her. 

 

“When we’re the  _ Power Couple of the Universe _ ,” Mara says after they calm down, “There won’t be any reason for me to miss you. Because we’ll be able to do it together.” 

Ford breathes and it’s a little like living. “You’re pretty great.” She says. 

“I love you too.” Mara says. 

The door to the kitchen opens. A swell of students come out and Ford manages to catch the door with her foot before they close it again. The paint and glitter on her hands is now half dried and disgusting, but Ford has gotten herself out of worse art supply situations. 

“Hey, did I tell you I got a job?” Ford asks. 

“Like at a coffee shop?” 

“No, on a hockey team. It’s sort of a weird story. I’m going to put you on speaker phone for a couple of minutes, give me a second--” 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> title from can't help falling by [ELVIS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGJTaP6anOU) what have i turned into  
> [tumblr](https://warptimeandspace.tumblr.com/) is this way ♥


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